When a budding entrepreneur starts his own business venture he needs a lot of guidance, cause the path he is heading is filled with lot of obstacles, we help them to Bridge the gap to his way to success.
Calling All Entrepreneurs
Did you just miss another one of your kid’s soccer games to meet a deadline? Ever work through an anniversary to finish a final draft? Are you tired of giving away your weekends to make “the company” rich. Does your boss take credit for your great ideas? Are you thinking this may be the right time to start your own company? I do. Then again, I always do. Being an entrepreneur is in my blood.
My name is Akbar Starkley—I’m an engineer and a business school graduate more importantly I’ve spent the past few years in the driver’s seat. An entrepreneur rounds the hairpin turns of innovation at breakneck speeds and races to eleventh hour deadlines--there is no finish on this course so in this series of articles I’ll give you the practical nuts and bolts advice you need to take it turn-by-turn from where the rubber meets the road.
So you say you want to be an entrepreneur? Or maybe you’re already a veteran of the race and want to see further down the road ahead. Either way, whether you fuel up on beta for breakfast or if you’re redlining at the starting line there’s always more to know. Learn how to: hire, fire, develop a presentation, plan, pitch, set expectations, eat, exercise, set up a US corporation and more, all the while living the corporate lifestyle--everything you need to know to find the talent and build the tools to set you on way.
Someone a lot smarter than me once said “A wise man learns from his mistakes—a prudent one learns from the mistakes of others.” With a number of entrepreneurial ventures and pet projects under my belt: fogcitysales.com, reallifegifts.com, tastyr.com, loomia.com, ginsengsteel.com, fogcitysails.com, areasofopportunity.com, bestinsaas.com, bitchr.com, techgiantpoker.com, priuses.com, twittrax.com, matisyahu.tv, akbar.tv, porkmilk.com, et al, I have learned a good deal. Shiva knows I’ve made more wrong turns than anyone can count—even gone through the windshield a few times. Still on the road, I’ve got more gas in the tank and I’m firing up the engine for my latest project! I can help salve the wounds from the burnouts to get you back on track quickly and hopefully you’ll learn how to avoid spinning out. They call it small business but it’s as big as the world you live in and you drive with all the passion of your soul—if this sounds like you stayed tuned….
Rule 1: Be Unreasonable.
I was once told reasonable people accept what is and has always been, and therefore all progress comes from unreasonable people.
I was once one of those reasonable people. After spending close to 10 years building, maintaining, and tinkering with electronic systems as an electronic technician in the U.S. Air Force and later in the private sector, I did the unreasonable thing and left my stable job and gave in to my desire to build cutting edge technology products. I went back to school full-time to gain a deeper understanding of how to design the Star Wars inspired gadgetry I one day wanted to build. After I finished an electrical engineering undergradI went on to develop software at Motorola and General Dynamics. Still I yearned to work on my own projects to bring my creations to life. So again I went back to school--this time to get a business degree. Once I was all done with grad school I felt I had all the tools necessary to set up my own shop—I was wrong. There’s a lot they don’t teach in B-school here’s how to get started.
Getting Started
So you’ve got a great idea—what more do you need to take the plunge into the startup world and build the next Google? A lot. The road of entrepreneurism is littered with the flotsam of discarded dreams--and sadly savings accounts and broken relationships.
Entering the world of entrepreneurism is like preparing yourself for battle. You’ll need to arm yourself with the right weapons and armor to stave off the attacks from competitors and to rally the troops to face insurmountable odds. Every successful campaign of history starts its march toward success with a solid plan—a winning strategy—you’ll need this first.
Take an assessment of the skills, tools, and resources you have at hand. Depending on how far down the road you are now there are a few highly recommended tools to have in your entrepreneurial tool belt, these are the basics and by no means should they be roadblocks:
- Business cards
- Elevator pitch
- Sales deck presentation
- Investor deck presentation
- Website
- Blog
Business cards
A friend and fellow entrepreneur once told me that a man without business cards is not a man that wants to be in business. While that may sound like an extreme view I tend to agree.
Business is largely the business of managing relationships—developing a business relationship is directly analogous to a budding courtship. Start slow—think long term. People that make you feel good you’ll want to keep close; people that make you work you’ll quickly distance yourself from.
Put in your mind’s eye any current relationship in your life, whether it’s your mother, a boss, or a colleague, you’ll quickly realize that you like being around the people that make you feel good. Even your best friend may frustrate you or disappoint you at times but when they’re in the room you feel—good—like a better you. Now take the mental image of someone you usually avoid if possible and you’ll see it feels like work to be around them. This person is usually asking for a favor, no matter how small it can still be a mental drain and we naturally tend to avoid these people. The most important book I’ve ever read on building relationships is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People, if you’re serious about going into business it’s a worthwhile read.
The last thing you want to be is an energy drain, when dealing with a potential customer or business partner. A successful business relationship starts with an effortless feeling on the part of prospect or partner. “You can look up my contact info on www….”, “Do you have a pen?", “Here, why don’t you take down my number…” are all deal killers. Make things as simple as possible for someone to contact you and follow up, a simple business card will pay real dividends overtime.
Elevator pitch
Rule 2: ABC – Always Be Closing*
Being an entrepreneur means you are the chief salesman for your company—you must always be ready to sell and promote your ideas and your company. We have dozens of brief encounters throughout the average day that a savvy CEO can turn into a quick pitch.
Design your elevator pitch to be delivered in 30 – 45 seconds maximum, to give the strongest impression. The goals of the elevator pitch are to qualify a potential prospect and to get a follow up meeting. If a prospect is the right audience for your product or service, they’ll want to know more after you deliver your pitch.
The typical flow of a startup elevator pitch is as follows:
- Qualify the audience
- Time box
- The “imagine” statement
- WIFM statement
- Ask for the business
- Present your business card
- Arrange follow up meeting
Qualify the Audience
Don’t wonder if you’re talking to the right person—ask. With a few pointed questions you can discovery valuable information about who you’re talking to, you might be surprised.
Time Box
The quickest way to turn an important lead into someone who’s running away is to have them believe that engaging with you in conversation is signing up for a long-term commitment. Once you’ve qualified them let me know up front how long they’ll need to listen.
The “Imagine” Statement—“A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words”
The best sales folks know that most people don’t like being sold—they love buying*. A good sales person will help a prospect sell themselves on an idea. Creating mental images in the mind’s eye of a prospect is the most powerful way to get them to win them over to your worldview—paint a picture of the world to come.
*Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer
WIFM Statement:What’s In It For Me?
Do you want to know the best way to get someone’s attention? Tell them why they’re paying attention. Here’s another hint: solving one of their problems is a lot more interesting than your story. Let your audience know the benefits of listening to you upfront and you’ll have their attention as long as they believe you can deliver the goods.
Ask for the Business
"Always ask for the business, don't worry about your technique or style"- Byrd Bagget
For the brief encounter “asking for the business” means asking for a follow up meeting with a qualified prospect to fill in the details about what you are offering.
Successful business people know how to capitalize on a chance meeting, turning happenstance into a business relationship. If done right a one minute conversation can change the fate of your business—be ready with a solid elevator pitch.
As an example here’s my elevator pitch Pork Milk Inc., a mobile applications company based in San Francisco CA:
Are you amazed by the explosion in mobile applications? What’s the name of your app?
Prospect: We don’t have an iPhone app just yet.
Whether your customers want to access your services or get an exclusive update on your latest product release-- iPhone and Android apps are the new ticket to play for any serious business owner. If you’re looking for a competitive edge in this tough economy in 30 seconds I can tell you why you want a mobile application from Pork Milk.
Prospect: We’ll I’m running to a meeting but I’ve got 30 seconds.
Just imagine the smiles you’d put on your customers’ faces if they could access your services on their iPhones—right now. There’s really no better way to stay top of mind. Do you think that sort of access would build customer loyalty? What impact do you think that would have on your sales?
At Pork Milk—we contract the elite developers of the industry to build mobile applications to your exact specifications. We deliver on time--every time and the consultation is part of the service.
Here’s my card [present business card look directly into the eyes of prospect and smile] if you’d like to know more about building your mobile application with our seasoned professionals—I can give you a call. Would either this Wednesday at 3:30 PM or Friday at 10:15 AM work better with your schedule?
Next up the Sales Deck ....
By
Akbar Starkley
CEO,
Pork Milk Inc
"Completely Kosher Mobile Applications"
www.porkmilk.com
